Public Works entity’s liabilities exceed assets by R10bn – audit report
| | African News Agency(ANA) and appropriate steps were taken to prevent R159 million in irregular expenditure.
“Payments were not made within 30 days or an agreed period after receipt of an invoice in certain instances, as required by Treasury regulations.
“Payments were made before goods or services were received, in contravention of Treasury regulations.”
Of the total irregular expenditure, R133m was identified in the year under review as potential irregular expenditure that was still to be validated by the management.
The entity said investigations into confirmed irregular expenditure was ongoing.
“Where investigations have been concluded and officials have been found liable in law, appropriate actions are taken by management in line with National Treasury guidelines.”
Makwetu also found that proper record keeping was not always implemented to ensure complete, relevant and accurate information was accessible and available to support financial and performance reporting.
Makwetu said the entity, which did not submit financial statements within two months of the end of the financial year, and did not prepare the statements in line with the prescribed format of the Public Financial Management Act.
“Material misstatements identified by the auditors in the submitted financial statements were not adequately corrected.
“Supporting documents could also not be provided subsequently, which resulted in the financial statements receiving a qualified audit opinion.”
Makwetu also said he found material misstatements in the annual performance report submitted for auditing.
“As management subsequently corrected only some of the misstatements, I reported material findings on the usefulness and reliability of the reported performance information.”